metro declined to comment about the case except to say it's now under investigation. >> very unsafe. >> reporter: but we got plenty of comments. >> i wouldn't want my kids to be on this bus because you don't know what could happen. >> reporter: what was your initial reaction when you saw it? >> when i saw him reading the newspaper or looking at the newspaper? >> reporter: correct. >> or had the wspaper in his hand rather? >> reporter: yes. what did you think? >> i thought it was different. >> reporter: troubling? >> i wouldn't say troubling necessarily. >> reporter: some people think he might be reading that newspaper and that's what they might have a problem with. >> i think it's unclear from this video. >> reporter: would you want to be a passenger on that bus? >> i ride it every day probably, so yeah. i love the bus drivers. >> reporter: according to the d.c. department of motor vehicles if a person, bus driver or otherwise, is, in fact, reading and driving, that would be considered distracted driving, a violation that comes with a $100 fine.

live in northwest washington, matt jablow, 9 news now. 9 wants you to know about an undercover investigation into d.c. cabs, black passengers and a destination in southeast. investigative reporter russ ptacek is here with me. he spent the past few days on the street with hidden cameras. what you're about to show us is something we know happens, but it's always interesting to see it on tape. >> it's interesting. you tell me about it and people i'm meeting here in washington tell me about it, but i was shocked to see it. take a look as one of our employees tries to catch a cab. this is just off dupont circle. the first person you see is white. right behind him, that's the black guy. you hear that sound. he's locking the door. so he refuses that beach now we have a second staffer, this -- employee. now we have a second staffe this guy white asking to go to the same location. he pulls up. >> hi. how are you? >> doesn't ask where he's 

going. he immediately gets in. >> you have the address? >> yup. 1351 alabama. >> same location and he takes off. what he doesn't know is i'm waiting 100 feet down the street. >> i'm curious, why wouldn't you pick up the black guy? >> he's a new one. i went to southeast, they didn't pay me. >> you're telling me the black guy didn't pay you? why didn't you pick up the black guy? >> because they didn't pay me. >> you're telling me the black guy didn't pay you. you haven't taken him anywhere. >> no. i took a black guy to the same address he gave me. >> then why did you pick up the white guy? >> i didn't know he's white. >> you didn't know this guy is white. do you know the guy you refused to take was black? >> i didn't know he was white. we got a lot of excuses. we tested 40 cabs. that was definitely the craziest excuse. we'll show you all those excuses, what happened in all 40 tests tonight in our investigation at 11:00. we'll also show you that man

without the fuzz over his face. >> you got my attention on that, russ, thank you, sir. a masked man ambushes and then sexually taxes a female clerk. it happened late -- attacks a female clerk. it happened late last night at the econo lodge in woodbridge. this sounds particularly violent. >> reporter: incredibly brutal because the woman was attacked on the stairwell, knocked unconscious and then sexually assaulted. this woman thought she was just helping a hotel guest, but instead faced a man wielding a knife. >> this is one where it's random and to the point where she's unconscious and the assault occurs. this is probably one of the most severe cases that we've had. >> reporter: police say the 33- year-old motel clerk received a call just after 10:00 last night. the caller said he was locked out of a second floor room and needed to get back in. the woman went out to help. when she got to the stairwell, a masked man with knife came

from behind and forced her into the very room she was called to let someone in, a room that was kay vanity. >> she was rendered un-- vacant. >> she was rendered unconscious either from shock or assault and during that we believe she was possibly raped. we're still looking into that encounter, but when she was coming to, she was definitely being sexually assaulted. >> reporter: motel managers say the clerk didn't know the room was vacant and should have checked. police say this may be how the attacker targeted his victim. even more surprising, this is the second time an employee has been attacked at this econo lodge at gordon boulevard on route 1 in woodbridge. just last month a 39-year-old woman cleaning a room was abducted and assaulted in the room she of trying to clean. she got away and this man was arrested for the crime. police say there is no connection, but these two incidents have put the management on edge.

the motel is increasing surveillance cameras, lighting and putting up a fence around perimeter. >> the detectives have been work all night and they're still working right now. >> reporter: there is a limited description to go on. police say they are going through surveillance video both from the motion and nearby businesses. i also want -- motel and nearby businesses. i also want to point your attention to the two lights behind me. the one above, the floodlight, was just added today. also managers are reminding employees to take those extra precautions to prevent something like this from happening again. back to you, lesli. the fiscal cliff countdown clock keeps on ticking tonight with no deal in place. just 25 days remain until the country could be pushed over the edge. today in northern virginia president obama visited a middle class falls church family. he says people like the centanas could be hit hardest if congress doesn't extend middle class tax cuts. >> for them to be burdened

unnecessarily because democrats and republicans aren't coming together to solve this problem gives you a sense of the costs involved in very personal terms. >> the president proposed a plan that members of his own party won't even vote for. >> now the president does want tax rates to go up on the wealthiest americans. republicans are standing behind their counteroffer to close tax loopholes and limit some deductions instead. they say the president needs to deliver a new plan that congress can pass. let's take live look right now. this is the ellipse where we are just moment as way from the lighting of the national -- moments away from the lighting of the national christmas tree. erica grow has been out there all afternoon. people are still pretty excited, aren't they? >> reporter: this is such a wonderful time on the ellipse out here right across from the national mall and we are listening to some beautiful holiday music right now being put on by the navy jazz band. before we got to hear the cast

of jersey boys singing us a few holiday songs. there are about 3,000 people here in seats that won the lottery back in october to get these free seats for this event and 14,000 standing room only tickets were also given out for free. so we're expecting that we have about 15 to 20,000 people here right now to see this national tree lighting live, but, of course, you can watch at home right on 9 news now. we are about three or four minutes away from the actual tree lighting from what we've been told. the obama family will come out here and light up that beautiful tree that you can probably see behind me. if your familiar with the tree lighting ceremony -- you are familiar with the tree lighting ceremony, you might be seeing a different perspective than you normally see. we've got the tree behind us. we also have the white house right in line with the tree. so you have a much more spectacular view of that national tree this year than we

usually have in years past. another new feature is the tree itself. this is a brand-new tree that was just planted in october. it's about 30 feet tall. it's a colorado blue spruce and even though the name has colorado in it, it came from virginia about 50 niles way from this location. so the national -- miles away from this location. so the national park service is actually hoping this tree lasts for a very long time because when it was transplanted, it was transplanted within the same climate zone. so they're not expecting it to be very shocking for the tree in order to take that transplant. anyway we're expecting that tree lighting to happen very, very soon. we think that we'll see the obama family arriving very shortly to make that tree lighting happen and today is not the end of it, of course. if you saw my story yesterday, you know that the tree lighting is just the beginning of a series of events that will take place down here on the ellipse

daily for the next several days and leading up through the christmas holiday and even beyond that. kids can come down here and hear santa. they can give their list to santa and sit on his lap for free, get their picture taken. there's also another christmas village kind of aspect to it and then around tree itself you'll see some beautiful just quaint little setups of trains and we also have all the trees surrounding the big national tree. you might be able to see that behind me. those are part of what's called the pathway for peace. 56 trees in addition to the national tree, they represent each of the 50 states, the district of columbia and also all of the u.s. territories such as the virgian islands and puerto rico. so we have this beautiful setup here. we're just waiting for the tree to be lit. i'm expecting a beautiful

spectacular display down here on the national mall and the ellipse. >> i bet it's great for you, erica. your first christmas holiday here in washington getting to go to a quintessential washington event. we'll be checking in with you in a little bit. let's send things over to topper shutt right now who is in front of our building on wisconsin avenue where we lit our own christmas tree, top. >> here's our tree. we lit this earlier. i would say this is about 35 feet and very nicely done. i'm a white lights kind of guy and this is very nicely done. it will be up through the holiday season. so not quite as impressive as the national christmas tree, but it is a very festive year in northwest as well. let's talk about the forecast. we have clouds coming in. that will keep temperatures up a little bit tonight, so increasing cloud, not quite as cold and low temperatures holding in the 30s. winds will turn and become southerly at 10. we'll come back, talk about the

precipitation rolling in by morning, your commute and if it's going to all fall as liquid precipitation in the metro area. we'll have an update and an updated forecast on the huge game the redskins and the ravens. you can watch it here on channel 9. >> not a lick of pressure on you at all, topper, thank you. jim demint called it quits today to run the conservative heritage foundation. demint has been an influential member of the tea party movement. his announcement could have repercussions not only in the senate but in republican primaries across the country. an arrest tonight in the murder of a 14-year-old boy in lewisdale. prince george's county police say they brought jose luis rodriguez nunez into custody shortly after the shooting and tonight he faces second degree murder charges in the death of eliezer benjamin reyes. crazy video out of wheat on where a car smashed into a

building this morning on ennalls road. crews had to shut off the gas and a building engineer will have to check things out. it's all standard procedure. the montgomery county fire department is letting us know about that. it doesn't sound like anybody was seriously hurt on this one, but as you can see, it's a bit of a spectacle. coming up license to wed, gay couples in maryland line up to make it legal. >> plus the duchess of cambridge is out of the hospital tonight, an update on her condition. >> while pot smokers celebrate overnight in washington state, a brand-new poll shows america is not quite ready to give the green leaf the green light. this is a 9 news fiscal cliff note. >> fact, child care tax credits will be really reduced. right now a taxpayer gets a $1,000 tax credit per child each year.

the credit kicks in when you file your annual income taxes, but if the reduction goes through, you will only be able to deduct $500, a 50% decrease. here's the back story. this year american families will claim over $38 billion in total child credits. if a compromise isn't reached soon, $37 billion in credits are due to be eliminated. why is this happening? it's part of an effort to slash $503 billion from the federal budget deficit through tax increases and deep spending cuts. >> you can learn more any time at www.wusa9.com and on 9 news. this has been a 9 news fiscal cliff note.

as we've been telling you here on 9 news, if an agreement cannot be reached by the 1st of the year, the cuts will have an enormous impact on houses, businesses and you name it and put a huge dent into medical research and drug development, possibly for years to come. automatic federal budget cuts means funding for the national institutes of health will be down and also funding for the fda. i spoke with a local family dealing with childhood cancer about how these cuts can make a delicate situation even worse. >> when i was first diagnosed,

that's one of the few moments where i will say that i did cry. >> five yearsing that moment changed joan norris' life forever. the 14-year-old from kensington has leukemia, the most common form of cancer in children and teen-agers. it starts in the bone marrow and affects the blood cells. many family like the norriss wait and hope for each medical -- norris family wait and hope for each medical advance. >> the research over the last 50 years learned you need to test the children's' spinal fluid over a regular basis to see if there are cells working there. >> this will keep me from living my life to the full amount. >> but some of the research that improves, even saves the lives of children with cancer may soon come to a halt. the political battle over the budget leading to the so-called fiscal cliff threatens funding to the national institutes of health and the food and drug administration. >> budget cuts have already made a significant negative impact on the discovery of new approaches to treating children

and adults with cancer, patients who are undergoing treatment for the most common, they could not get certain keep therapies. >> dr. robert r.cici says past cuts to the nih have already strained progress on clinical trials and new therapies. the deeper cuts that would come with the fiscal cliff he says would be catastrophic. >> already we have seen the stopping of certain protocols for some of the rarer childhood cancers, for instance. so those patients aren't even getting clinical trials necessarily. >> my reaction varies between frankly disbelief and anger that this is even such a topic. we don't get to decide if we're just going to fall off the cancer cliff. we have to fight it every single day. >> joe is still in treatment for that relapse of leukemia. he's hoping this is his last go around. we've made it easy for you to get your opinion to your local

lawmaker or representative. it's in the fiscal cliff section of our website www.wusa9.com. pot smokers made the space needle the highest building literally in the country at the stroke of midnight. >> today is the first day residents there can legally toke up in the state of washington. now although smoking in public is not allowed, the cops were lenient. they let it shied because everybody was partying up there -- slide because everybody was partying up there in hazy seattle. marijuana, by the way, under federal law still not legal. don't go crazy. however, according to a usa today gallup poll 64% of those surveyed say the feds need to back off once states give pot the green light. however in, a general sense americans are still split down the middle when it comes to actual legalization. 50% say no. 48% say yes. a new controversy brewing tonight at penn state, a are so rote there is under investigation after al -- a sorority there is under investigation after allegation of racist behavior. a photo of a mexican themed

party showed up online. one woman has a sign saying we'll mow lawn for weed plus beer. northerly sign says i don't cut grass. i smoke it. the are sorority has apologized for the party. the duchess of cambridge is finally going home from the hospital. the royal couple smiled in front of cameras. care of the being treated for severe morning sick -- kate was being treated for severe morning sickness and fold the press she was feeling much better -- told the press she was feeling much better. >> you know who that really sounded like to me when they said the queen called? julia childs pretending to be the queen. >> what are you holding in your hand? i did that little twitter poll yesterday and my unofficial survey here is most

people do 12:00. >> for the bow. >> for the bow. there are some that do 6:00. then there's some 4:00s and 7:00s, but right now 70% it's 12:00. >> really. i thought 6:00 was the way to go. >> 12:00. >> i'm thinking 6. anita, what do you think? >> i like the 4:00, off to the side, edgy. >> brikman. >> so edgy. >> let's not get old. let's start with live look outside, our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. again, thanks, everybody, for participating in that unofficial survey. right now temperatures are in the 40s. we're looking at 42 downtown, dew point in the low 20s, winds out of the south at 5. that's a good thing. winds will turn and become stronger out of the south to drive up milder air tomorrow and warmer air into the weekend. radar, we see some rain back in through west virginia, southwestern virginia and parts

of kentucky and tennessee. this is pushing north and east. there is a chance some of this could be here in time for our morning commute. i think most of us will have a dry movement everything that moves in will be light. there is a slight chance north of the border, maybe bedford county, could have a brief period of freezing rain tomorrow morning. temperatures, 41 rockville, a lot of 30s showing up, 39 bethesda, 36 gaithersburg, 40 in great falls, vienna, fairfax, 41 in college park, 38 in bowie. temps will tank quickly till about midnight. then with the cloud cover coming in and southerly winds temps will level off. unsettled, milder. clouds return tonight, a few showers tomorrow but milder friday and warmer over the weekend. that is the good news. 6:00 tomorrow a lot of clouds around the metro area, but some showers west of town. if newer hagerstown or martinsburg or -- if you're in hagerstown or martinsburg or

cumberland, you probably will have a wet commute. by 9:00 showers down toward andrews, light activity, green. so we are looking toward the tail end of the commute you might find some showers. then mostly cloudy skies by afternoon, about 12:00 a few breaks, but clouds hang on, but really the afternoon and evening not so bad and a little milder. tonight increasing clouds, not as cold, one to two blankets, low temperatures in the 30s, winds out of the south at 10. our next three days the 9 weather alerts all green. 52 tomorrow. i think we'll keep it green. it's golfable quite frankly tomorrow. milder on saturday, 63, maybe a shower, big game sunday, shower possible but 62, pretty good deal for december. you can watch that game right here on channel 9 at 1:00. better chance for showers on monday in the 60s and then a little bit cooler tourk leftover showers, low 50s and we're -- cooler, leftover showers, low 50s and we're back in the sunshine wednesday and thursday.

we'll be right back after this. ever heard that cabbies won't stop for black guys? we've gotten so many live stories we're testing it out tonight at 11:00 tracking cabs with our cameras.

>> i love you all, miss you, wish i could be with you all. merry christmas. my prayers where are you -- are with you and my love is

with you always. there is a big football weekend coming your way on be with work army/navy saturday at 3 p.m.

followed at 7:00 by game on and then on monday sunday it's the -- sunday it's the showdown and then game on live from fedex sunday at 5 p.m. when it comes to managing money, lesbians, gays and bisexuals get high marks. the survey of more than 1,000 people found those folks seem to earn more and have less debt accrued. it's said uncertainty about members on gay right prompts them to be very careful with their money. christmas can be a beautiful time for many and for others it's time to get ugly. >> dig out those ugly sweaters because this 18-year-old is making money doing it. he sells those rather ugly christmas sweaters online. mccarthy has put together an impressive stockpile by searching every flea market, thrift store and yard sale across six different states. >> the more colorful, the more

action, the more eye popping things, that's our definition of ugly. >> that works. >> the ugly christmas sweaters sell for 20 to $50 each. some people may find them tack tacky, but mccarthy says it's been beautiful for him. he's ship being out those sweaters at a pace of 40 r day. >> one year didn't you guys have us wear ugly sweaters and i was the only one who wore one? that's what happened. you guys mess up everythi. still ahead how some holiday decorations could turn your celebration -- you see what's happening there. that's not good. >> reporter: a historic day in maryland, so why did just a handful of same sex couples turn up? i'm bruce leshan, the answer just on the other side of the break.

this is a 9 news fiscal cliff note. >> fact, the cost of your child care will be higher because the child care tax deduction is being eliminated. the cost of child care itself is not impacted, but if you deducted x for your child care on your income tax the end of 2012, you will no longer be able to use that deduction to reduce your tax payment in 2013. why is this happening? it's the fiscal cliff, the term we use to describe a group of federal tax increases and spending cuts all due to take effect the end of 2012 and early 2013. these measures are set to automatically slash the federal budget deficit by $503 billion between 2012 and 2013. >> you can learn more any time at www.wusa9.com and on 9 news. this has been a 9 news fiscal cliff note.

the music is still playing and we are still waiting for the president to arrive at the ellipse for the lighting of the national christmas tree, a very entertaining night as there have been a lot of musicians and celebrities showing up and our own erica grow is there live as well. as soon as the president gets there and lights the big tree, we will be back there live to show it all to you. out in maryland today a historic milestone. the free state issued its first same sex marriage license.

gay couples can't legally get married there until 12:01 new year's day and bruce leshan suggested that may have helped to keep the crowds away today. wasn't exactly long lines, bruce. >> reporter: no. not long lines d one reason may have been the fact they have to wait until new year's day. the other reason might be a little bit to do with the proximity to d.c. where same sex couples have been able to get married since 2009 and have those marines recognized in maryland -- marriages recognized in maryland, but we did see a few couples. >> so excited. i cannot believe this day is here. >> reporter: this was just the second same sex couple to receive a marriage license at the montgomery county circuit courthouse. >> we could have gone on to d.c., but we ain't didn't really feel it was right or legal. we want -- we didn't really feel it was right or legal. we wanted to be married in maryland. we teared up. we cried several times in the last several weeks. >> party one which used to be

husband and gate two which used to be wife. >> reporter: loretta knight is one of the first county clerks to put together new marriage certificates. some rules remain the same, but the clerk already has her first same sex ceremony booked for the wedding room after new year's day and she is ready to add the names to the registries that go back decades. >> before i used to say now i'll pronounce you husband and wife. now i say i now pronounce you as married. >> reporter: the state attorney general ruled as soon as the governor certified thursday morning that same sex marriage had been approved by the voters, clerks could start issuing licenses for weddings that would be performed as soon as january 1st, but it was far quieter in maryland than in washington state where voters last month also approved same sex marriage and couples lined up thursday and got married. in rockville this woman's partner asked we not name her

nor photograph her face. she still fears fallout. >> you know, there's prejudice and people don't believe in who we are and what we stand for and unfortunately they don't want this to happen, but the people of maryland have spoken and we are going to be treated like everybody else. >> reporter: unlike in montgomery county prince george's county plans to issue one marriage license for heterosexuals and another marriage license for same sex couples. they are still trying to work out some computer details there in prince george's county and will not be ready until next week. in tonight's consumer alert the garland, the tinsel, the lights, they surely add to the holiday spirit, but those decorations can cause you to be hurt if you're not careful and this is the time of year the consumer product safety commission reminds all of us to have good safety measures in place to protect our families

and homes. holiday decorations can go from delightful to dangerous in seconds and the consumer product safety commission points to an increase in injuries related to the festive ornaments. the estimated number of incidents including fires has gone up from 12,000 in 2009 to 14,000 last holiday season. christmas tree fires like this one set by the cpsc cost consumer as much as $19 million in property damage between 2008 and 2010. the holiday season is longer this year between thanksgiving and christmas, so even more caution is needed with live trees. >> consumers are buying them earlier and earlier. that can cause problems. often people are having such great time during the holidays that they forget to water the tree which can lead to a terrible fire. >> reporter: so keep the tree can filled with water and the tree kept a safe distance from heat vents, radiators or fireplaces. never use wires with broken or

cracked wires and don't burn candles on unstable surfaces where they can be knocked over or leave them unattended. the bottom line is to use common sense. make sure you have a safety plan in place to avoid any unwanted accidents and injuries. this is the best gift you can give your family to ensure that holiday season is happy. this next story should make parents of babies take note. if you have a nap nanny or a chill infant recliner, the consumer product safety commission says stop using them. the cpsc says five children have died in them and 70 other children have nearly fallen out of these recliners. the agency is taking the unusual step of suing the maker of the product, baby matters llc to get them to pull the products from the market. they say despite improvements to the warning and instructions children still are not safe in those items. 15 days after it hit store shelves the call of duty black ops 2 video game reached $1

billion in sales and according to the gamemaker activision this latest installment is its best seller. it took 15 days for that to happen and just 16 days for last year's call of warfare modern duty 3 to hit the billion dollar mark. we were back to reality today, temps held in the 40s. if you're going out, take a jacket. 37 in frederick, 36 gaithersburg, 39 manassas, 42 downtown. we'll come back, talk about precipitation moving in, perhaps just in time for the morning commute and we'll look ahead to the weekend forecast which includes the all important ravens/redskins game which you can watch right here on channel 9.

you can power up or power down the fun in today's hot holiday toy pictures and we start with a new crop of green toys made by green toys. it has the submarine and build your own bouquet all over here eco friendly and 100% recycled

plastic, no bisphenol a are don't have to worry about all the condemn -- a, don't have to worry about all the chemicals. it's brain power. you don't need to do anything to get it up and running. >> but you get to build stuff. >> a lot of fun for all ages. derek, i figured you would like this. this is the silver lit interactive bluetooth remote controlled car, right? take your iphone or your ipad or your ipod and it turns into a remote control. this is the porsche, right? we can't really buy you one, so we thought this was a mini version. >> this is good. >> you use your device. power it up. 79.99. so it's not cheap, but it's a whole lot cheaper than a real porsche. >> not as green but more fun. >> anita, for you and your family i suspect you need a cell lockup, right? >> what is that? >> using the cell phone during dinner, no more disturbing the

peace. so you open this up and you take your cell phone and put it in there. i'm not going to do it because it's actually going to lock. you press this button on the side. we find your cell phone guilty and you can put your cell phone in here for a designated amount of time. 19.99. you can't get in there. >> let's say you have got a teenage textaholic. >> the only way to do it is to block the signal in that thing. >> don't tell them that. hello? >> not only are redskins fans in love with rg3, his opponents some to be in awe. we'll hear what jim harbaugh has to say coming up. >> but up next two teenagers denied they bullied after the video evidence shows them doing it.

a violent case of bullying caught on take. the online video shows two teenage -- tape. the online video shows two teenage brothers repeatedly attacking and chasing another

boy. the two boys showed up in court yesterday and admitted being the bullies in the video. the judge ordered both brothers stay in juvenile custody until their next hearing later this month. bullying is not just happening among kids. a new book called bully in the ivory tower finds that workplace bullying is happening at an alarming rate in higher education. i'm joined now by the book's author, dr. leah hollis. you say 62% of people who work in higher education have experienced bullying versus 45% of the general population. where did you get these numbers? >> i survived 175 schools and found a number of people especially in entry levels and middle management were talking about how they were the target of bullying from the boss or organization in general. >> what's going on, why at colleges and universities? how are bullies protected? >> what's interesting is in a college or university we are trained tore experts in our field to go -- to be experts in our field to go out and increase knowledge. it's also an isolating experience. so now when you have two

managed people or collaborators have team be, you've already been protected by tenure and at least in a culture that supports being isolated and supports a big ego. that doesn't always make for the best situations. >> who are saying they're being bullied, younger educator by tenured folks? >> the assistant director or the manager of the department, folks who are reporting upline to vice presidents, pro posts pro -- provoskhs, et cetera. if -- provosts, et cetera. it's distracting because you're not focused on the students. you're busy licking your own wounds of being the target of a bully. >> obviously a lot of people watching now do not work in higher education. what are the lessons learned across the board about how can

we deal with bullying in workplaces across america? >> if you approach the bully and actually bullies want to do well just like most leaders do want to perform well. if you let the person know that it's affecting their productivity that, it's affecting how the staff is operating, bullies tend to have higher turnover underneath them. so the costs of turnover is about 150% per person who leaves the institution. so bringing these things up. another way that an organization can deal with it is 360 evaluations, doing evaluations of leadership and holding them accountable for how people feel underneath them. >> dr. hollis, thank you for joining us. we're going down now to the ellipse for the lighting of the national christmas tree. let's take you live as the first family is about to flip the switch.

>> all right. looks like they might be running a little behind edge and all, but we'll bring that to you as soon as the president and first family are ready to light the national christmas tree, something a lot of washingtonians look forward to every year, the season for everyone to celebrate. the world largest cut aquamarine is now on display at the museum of natural history on the mall. the smithsonian unveiled the obelisk shape today. the blue green crystal was named for brazil's first two emporers, stands 14 inches tall and weighs nearly 5 pounds, pretty amazing. today marked the grand reopening of the new fantasy land at walt disney world's magic kingdom and this doubles

the size of the original fantasyland and features new attractions inspired by dumbo, beauty and the beast and the little mermaid. i know you're hungry for some pizza, but pizza hut is breaking into the perfume business. there's now a pizza scented perfume in canada called eu de pizza hut and it's very exclusive. eu only 110 bottles made being shipped to select people who responded to a promotional campaign on facebook. a marketing exec says only time will tell whether eu de pizza hut will make it to department stores. what are you doing? >> is it eu de pizza hut? >> it's how i just said it, with feeling. >> i thought for a minute my flicker was locked in the cell lockup, but i got it out. >> you like that thing, don't you? you better watch that toy. it's going over toer to's.

>> we got to -- topper's house. >> we got to watch the car. >> you will not be taking the car. >> call her. pretend to be the queen. >> hello, the queen, may i borrow your car, please? little tiny car, not the big car. live look outside, about to fire up on the national christmas tree. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son waiting for the lighting. temperatures today only in the 40s. remember tuesday it was 72. well, 42 right now downtown, dew point in the mid-20s. so a pretty dry air mass, although it's going to get a little more moist and some clouds roll. in winds have turned from the south. that's kind of a signal the milder air is on the way. we'll introduce the president right now, the first lady and president obama, about to throw the switch. let's go back out to the ellipse. ♪[ music ] [ cheering and

applause ] >> merry christmas, everybody! >> mr. obama, mrs. robinson, sasha and malia, wonderful to see you. happy holidays to you, mr. president. >> is it time? >> i think it's time. >> i think it's time. >> for the big button. let's count it down are everybody. >> i hope -- down, everybody. >> i money everybody is ready. we've got to do the -- i hope everybody is red ditch we've got to do the countdown -- ready. we've got to do the countdown starting with five, four, three, two, one. [ cheering and applause ]

[ o christmas tree playing ] >> merry christmas, everybody. >> very nice. remember, this is a live tree. the national christmas tree is a live tree and it was brought in from within 50 miles of the metro area. the one that was brought in a few years ago to replace the one that was down in that big storm died and wasn't doing well and quite frankly, it didn't have the shape of this tree. we were all kind of surprised last year, was not a great looking tree. that's a great looking tree and it will w be lighted through the holidays. remember, you can walk around e pageant of peace until about 11:00 at night. it's a great family tradition and one for the whole nation to enjoy. okay. let's talk about the rainfall now. we have some rain down to the south of us in portions of west virginia and southwest virginia.

this will roll in tomorrow morning in the tail end of the rush hour, not a big deal. it won't be showering everywhere. the best chance will be west of town. temps 30s and 40s, 36 in gaithersburg, 38 in great falls and 40 in college park. unsettled but turning milder, so it's kind of a tradeoff. clouds return tonight, a wet morning commute tomorrow, a bit milder friday and warmer over the weekend. here's our futurecast. 6:30 a.m., showers in leesburg, but primarily i-81 west is all green. some of these will make their way across the metro area at 9:00, 10:00 in the morning. south of fredericksburg probably won't see showers. the clouds will hang tough, but we'll be milder tomorrow in the low 50s. increasing clouds tonight, one to two blanket night, low temperatures in the 30s. the next three days our 9 weather alerts all green, 52 tomorrow, a few showers, milder saturday, 63 with a few

showers. if you're going to philadelphia for the army/navy game, a better chance for showers and temperatures in the low to mid- 50s, not as warm and wetter. sunday mild, showers possible for the big game, but temperatures in the low 60s. you can watch the ravens/redskins game on monday night. upper 40s on wednesday and low 50s on thursday. so still mild for the redskins/ravens game, just a slight chance of a shower. fairfax county takes in more federal contracting money than any county in the entire nation. that's why there's extreme worry about the fiscal cliff. i'm peggy fox. coming up what county leaders are doing to try to stop it. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher in a maintenance yard for the national park service where a group of 5th graders are learning everything that

goes into planning for a presidential inauguration. do they have what it takes? find out coming up. >> and you know, redskins fans are not the only ones in love with rg3. his opponents are in awe, as they should be. we'll hear what ravens head coach john harbaugh is afraid of. wo up with ts horrle sh on right sid

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this sunday will mark the first time in four years the redskins and ravens face off in the regular season. this time there's a whole lot on the line. baltimore is just one win from clinching a playoffs spot while rg3 has the redskins back in the hunt for the postseason. recently i sat down with ravens head coach john harbaugh and the burgundy and gold's rookie qb definitely has his attention. >> reporter: what's your sense of this guy, your initial thoughts on rg3? >> he's great. here's a guy that thought about going to stanford, so i had a

little experience with him four years ago when andrew luck was recruited out of houston both 4.0 students and here they are the 1 and 2 pick in the draft. immobilized we don't have to play them of year. so that -- i'm pleased we don't have to play them every year. so that kind of works out. we admire him, share the same fan base and population. we kind of get to cheering for him a little bit, too. >> reporter: the redskins didn't have anybody you had to game plan for. now that's changed. >> he's very unique. you have to look at him and say this is a unique guy. he plays the game differently than 90% of the quarterbacks in the national football league. so we'll have to structure our defense a little differently to defend him. >> reporter: what do you think his greatest strength is? >> playing quarterback. he embodies the position, okay? he's able to manage the game. he makes good decisions. he's a leader for his team, all the things that make a quarterback a quarterback are things he does with. add into that the talent factor. he can run obviously.

he can throw. he's a playmaker. so he's the total package. >> that's right. he's the total package. you can see more of any interview with coach harbaugh this coming saturday on game on and it airs right after the 113th army/navy game. on sunday we've got all your redskins/ravens coverage. the game kicks off at 1 p.m. and be sure to stick around for live postgame coverage game on sunday. this is 9 news now. president obama sit down with a middle class family in northern virginia to pitch his plan to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. just 25 more days until the countdown clock strikes midnight january 1st and both sides are not backing down from their demands. the white house made it clear the country could go over the cliff if republicans don't agree to end the bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. congressional republicans are standing by their counteroffer to close tax loopholes and